2011-2012

Issues

Political positions

Voting Record

Since his election to Congress in 1992, Holden has missed 3 percent of all roll call votes. The median is 2.4 percent.[2]

A February 2012 analysis by National Journal found that out of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, Holden ranks number 185 in liberal rankings. The ranking means Holden is the 185th most liberal member of the House. [3]

Health Care

In 2010, Holden was one of 39 Democrats in the House to vote against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[4] Holden said he voted against the bill because of its cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and because of its taxes on health care benefits. "

Excerpt: "I do believe we need health care reform, but I think we could have done it incrementally, closing the doughnut hole in Medicare, negotiating drug prices to reduce them and eliminating lifetime caps. They intend to use the $500 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts to pay for the subsidies and to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. You can't do both with it. I spent a lot of time talking to providers. They're losing money on Medicare and Medicaid now. Further reductions are going to affect their ability to provide care for seniors."[5]

Foreign Policy

Holden bucked the party trend in 2002 by voting to authorize use of U.S. force in Iraq. Later, In 2007, Holden strongly opposed the troop surge. In 2011, however, Holden voted against a resolution requiring the president to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan immediately. When crisis arose in Libya in the spring of 2011, Holden voted against a resolution banning President Obama from using sending armed forces without Congressional approval.[6]

Excerpt: "My commitment to our brave men and women is unwavering. However, I disagree with deploying more than 20,000 more U.S. combat troops in Iraq. The president has consistently said that the size of the force would be determined by military leaders on the ground. Yet the two previous leaders on the ground do not support the addition of more troops. ...Our troops have done their job and performed with great courage and honor. The solution in Iraq can no longer be resolved militarily. We must win both politically and diplomatically."[7]

Energy

In 2006, Holden voted against opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. Then, in 2007, he voted in favor of extending a moratorium on offshore drilling. A year later in 2008 appeared to change his position when he told a local newspaper he wanted to "drill everywhere. I’m for offshore drilling," said Holden at the time. "It needs to be part of a multipronged approach.”[8] In 2011, he broke with party ranks by voting to allow drilling in the outer continental shelf.

In 2002, Holden beat the odds by defeating a Republican congressman, and has been fending off GOP challengers ever since. But after redistricting, the 17th district became much more Democratic, meaning that instead of fending off a challenger from the right, Holden faced a strong challenge from the left. Moreover, his primary challenger, attorney Matt Cartwright, is a wealthy self-funder and well-known throughout the district.[10]

In a March 30, 2012 article from The Washington Post, Holden was listed as the 6th most likely incumbent to lose his primary.[11] New territory from the redistricting process allowed Holden to gain a more Democratic district, after losing most of the most heavily Republican leaning areas of the district previously.[11] However, that new territory also drew new intra-party opposition from lawyer Matt Cartwright in the primary.[11][12]

U.S. House of Representatives-Pennsylvania District 17 Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Matt Cartwright

57.1%

33,255

Tim Holden Incumbent

42.9%

24,953

Total Votes

58,208

Ads

"Holden campaign ad"

In March 2012, the Holden campaign purchased an $85,000 television ad buy. The 30-second ad emphasizes Holden's record of supporting American troops and protecting seniors.[13]

On April 4, 2012, Holden released his first negative campaign ad against opponent Matt Cartwright.[14]

"Holden negative campaign ad"

Holden also released a another negative ad that attacks Cartwright's wealth.[15]

"Bored"

Endorsements

Targeted

Holden was targeted for defeat by the Campaign for Primary Accountability. On April 6, the group launched a $70,000 ad buy with a negative ad tying Holden to Wall Street.[19] A Holden spokesman said the Campaign for Primary Accountability, which spent $200,000 in the race, contributed to Holden's loss to Matt Cartwright in the primary.[20]

"Who Does Congressman Tim Holden Look out for?"

Holden was also targeted by the Blue America PAC. The group is buying billboard space to criticize Holden for supporting weakened regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."[21]

Holden was also targeted by the environmental group, League of Conservation Voters. The group purchased $230,000 worth of ad time against Holden. The 30-second TV ad compares Holden to former President George W. Bush when it comes to energy policy. "Congressman Tim Holden voted for Bush's energy plan that gave billions in taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies," says the ad's narrator. "But Congressman Holden voted against President Obama's plan to increase funding for clean energy."[22]

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign donors

Throughout his career in the House, Holden has raised more than $500,000 each from Building Trade Unions, Industrial Unions, and Transportation Unions.[29]

Holden's top three contributors throughout his career are the PMA Group, which gave $102,075; Carpenters & Joiners Union, which gave $97,950; and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which contributed $94,325.[30]

2010

Holden won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Holden's campaign committee raised a total of $1,363,850 and spent $1,864,924.[31]

Analysis

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Holden paid his congressional staff a total of $970,964 in 2011. Overall, Pennsylvania ranks 34th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[32]

Net worth

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Holden's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $290,020 to $804,000. That averages to $547,010 which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[33]

Percentage voting with party

Tim Holden voted with the Democratic Party 71.1% of the time, which ranked 184 among the 192 House Democratic members as of December 2011.[34]